When it comes to summer health care we often hear about the need to apply sunscreen, wear sunglasses to protect our eyes, and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. But the longer days of sun light and warm weather create an opportunity to buoy our health in ways that impact our lives well beyond Labor Day. Check out these summer health tips to deepen and expand the health of your body, mind and spirit.

Summer Health Tips: 9 Ways To Boost Your Health Beyond Sunscreen

1. Deepen The Spiritual Awakening of Spring — We commonly “Spring Clean” our lives, cleaning out the cobwebs physically, mentally and spiritually with greater attention toward renewal. Deepen this “awakening.” For instance, did you de-clutter any part of your home? Think about emotional and mental impact this had and delve into how incorporating a “no-clutter” attitude, replete with loving every item in your home, amplifies your overall wellbeing. Or, did you perhaps “Spring Clean” your body? Think about how well you felt after the cleanse and consider adapting a cleanse-like mentality to your everyday nutrition.

2. Slow Down — Summer is chock full of delights for the senses. Meander through a botanical garden, plant an herb garden (even on your window sill!), or enjoy your local farmer’s market or take a sunrise walk before the hustle bustle of the day starts. See, smell, taste and the joys of summer. Take the time to notice the seasonal changes from day-to-day.

3. Experience Nature — Walking in green spaces reduces stress and increases calm, creativity and productivity. But beyond these health benefits connecting with nature allows us to connect with the Earth. It serves as a reminder of our joined destiny, our interdependence, that we are connected to the trees, the plants and all the little creatures big and small that share it with us.

4. Relax and Breathe — Create the time to hang out in a hammock, sit on a beach, find a shady spot under a tree in your favorite park and mindfully breathe. There’s something about summer that makes it particularly easy to cultivate a breathing practice. Breathe, stretch, read, write — all great ways to spread your wings, find your voice and connect to your source.

5. Take Advantage of the Weather — In other words… be outside every moment you can! Don’t sleep away your weekends. Get up, get active, and enjoy every moment of the gift of long warm days.

6. Visit A Farm — Farms are aflutter with life! Baby animals, growing plants, visiting a farm gives us an opportunity to connect with our life source! We are accustomed to food arriving on our plate without giving thought (or thanks) to where its origin. When we become aware on a conscious level, our relationship to the food we eat changes. We slow down and appreciate all the work that went into the food we are about to consumer.

7. Enjoy Summer’s Seasonal Bounty — Oh, the ecstasy of summer foods! Cherries, watermelon, peaches, tomatoes, corn, arugula, rhubarb, melon, berries — it is a feasting bonanza. Take a walk through any farmer’s market and delight in all the produce summer has to offer. Get it while you can!

8. Volunteer — With so many hours of daylight it’s a great time of the year to volunteer outdoors. Walking trails, nature trails, community gardens, farms, and conservancy organizations would all welcome your help. Meet other like-minded people, give back to your community and experience the boost in mood and wellbeing that service provides.

9. Try Something New — It’s a great time of the year to try out an abundance of activities. Landscape painting, trapeze school, any number of outdoor sports (have you always wanted to know how to play lacrosse? Join a summer beginners league.), surfing, bicycle touring, or whale watching. Make a list and go!

You can boost your health with supplements if you use them wisely. The controversy about the use of supplements has been settled in their favor. We can not get the daily requirement of essential vitamins and minerals from our modern food. Even nutritious food may not provide daily required amounts.

Deficiency of nutrients and vitamins in our body can cause variety of health problems. Some may become chronic with passage of time. Lethargy, indigestion, low energy levels and recurring minor problems are mostly caused by the lack of vitamins and nutrients.

Good news is that we can avoid all these health problems with proper supplements. Good supplements with essential nutrients and vitamins under proper guidance can be very helpful. Your immune system gets boost. Your physical and mental energy levels are increased. Your overall fitness level increases. You become healthy and radiant.

You can boost your health and fitness with proper use of supplements. Even healthy foods does not provide daily required amount of nutrients and vitamins. Healthy food aided by good supplements can boost your immune system, give you radiant health, and increase your energy levels.

You can get rid of small ailments. Get relief from many recurring minor health problems. Feel fit and strong.

But, you should always remember that supplements are supplements and not replacement of regular and healthy food. Without food, they will not work.

I am running an internet business and I keep myself healthy and fit as I use healthy food with good supplements. I believe, we need to be health conscious and proactive

We used to think that the only way to boost our health is through diet and exercise. Well things have changed or at least we now know that it’s not entirely accurate. Besides diet and exercise there are actually other things that can do to keep our minds and bodies healthy. These are ridiculously simple things that at first glance you won’t even think of trying it out.

A very simple but effective way to improve health is to step outside and take a walk in the nearest park. If this is habit that you have been doing already, good for you, if not, you should it try it. Enjoying beautiful scenery such as nature has been found to reduce stress and lower blood pressure. It’s also an unconscious way of exercising since it allows you to just walk around and have fun.

Since we’re talking about enjoyment and fun, let me tell you that playing is good for your health. I’m not only referring to playing sports like basketball, football or badminton that allows you to sweat hard and therefore help you burn fat. I’m talking about simple activities such as playing hide and seek or enjoying a game of catch with your little ones. The enjoyment you get form playing actually helps strengthen your immune system!

Do you know that you can boost your health even while staying in the comfort of your own bed? You can do that by cuddling! Yes! Cuddling with your spouse helps your body release oxytocin. This hormone is released into the female brain during bonding times either with partner or children. It is said to improve the immune and cardiovascular system. Its counterpart is vasopressin for males.

Having a positive outlook in life can greatly affect your health according to experts. Just thinking of happy thoughts and laughing can cause your brain to release feel-good chemicals that help boost up your immune system. On the other hand, if you always feel bad about yourself you will probably have a higher risk for obesity and heart disease.

We all know that we need to get more fresh fruits and vegetables in our diets. In fact, the new food pyramid recommends getting nine servings of produce per day. That is a lot of fruits and vegetables to put into your body in one day. But you can do it! By drinking healthy juice you can get your daily recommended allowance of produce and boost your health at the same time.

Now many people mistakenly think that any kind of juice is beneficial to their health. Unfortunately this is not true. Many of the juices you buy today are not 100% juice, they have sugar and other additives, and they have been processed to the point all the nutrients are gone. So basically you are just drinking a fruit flavored beverage. This is not considered a serving of fruit or vegetables.

Drink Your Vegetables!
The best way to get the full benefits of juicing is to make your own. You will have total control over what goes into it and what doesn’t go into it! You can be creative and mix different fruits and vegetables together for unique and delicious juices and smoothies. Consider adding a handful of spinach leaves or other green vegetables to a fruit juice for an extra nutritional boost. This is a good way to disguise vegetables your kids won’t eat otherwise. You cannot even taste the spinach in a fresh fruit smoothie or juice.

By creating your own juice, you will actually start consuming more fruits and vegetables than you did before. That is because it is so easy to drink your produce! Not only does it taste good, but juice is easy to take with you on your drive to work.

The Health Benefits
The health benefits you will reap from making your own juice are numerous. A major benefit being that you are getting all the nutrients found in the produce. Without excessive processing you will get the full nutrient value of a food. This will be better for you and your family. In fact, the nutrients you will get from juicing can boost your overall health immensely. There will be no need to take a multivitamin if you include more fruits and vegetables in your diet.

In addition to getting more nutrients from your produce, you will help to combat cellular damage from free radicals. In the world we live in our bodies are continually bombarded by pollution and toxins. These toxins build up in our cells and contribute to illness, weight gains, and general sluggishness. Basically your cells are dirty. Healthy, pure juices help to flush the toxins from your cells and your body. When you are free of toxins you just feel healthy!

Juicing is Fun and Easy!
Juicing doesn’t have to be hard. Most of the juicers on the market today are very easy to use and all but fool proof! There are many different types of juicers so it is best to determine what you will be using it for before you purchase. A masticating juicer will extract the most juice from the produce. Many of these will extract the juice through both crushing and pressing to get every drop of juice.

The most popular juicers for consumers are centrifugal juicers. These juicers use a spinning action to pull the juice from the fruit. You will have more waste with these juicers and they will not be able to extract juice from grasses. You can find juicers that are made just for grasses, although most masticating juicers will take care of grasses just fine.

Juicing is a great way to have a healthy diet and boost your overall health. Try it yourself and begin enjoying the benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables!

Piper is a freelance writer who enjoys fitness and the outdoors. She loves to use her Vitamix juicer [http://www.juicemaker.org/vitamix-juicer/] to make great, healthy juice. She enjoys nature, reading and fitness. She encourages others to get a juice maker [http://www.juicemaker.org/juice-maker/] to make healthy juice for their family as well.

For the people of South Africa, red tea has long been a favorite natural remedy for various ailments. The name Rooibos is literally translated from Afrikaans as “red bush.” This bush is selective as to where it grows and is found only in a small area of the Western Cape in South Africa, namely the Cederberg area. It is part of the fynbos family of this region.

In the 1930’s the first rooibos plants were cultivated in Clanwilliam (a small town in the Western Cape) on the Klein Kliphuis Farm (which literally translated Small Stone House Farm).

For generations the tea has been used as a home treatment and very few questioned it’s ability to relieve certain ailments. Scientific studies performed over recent years have proven many of these claims to be true. Rooibos tea is an infusion made with oxidized leaves of the rooibos plant. It contains two main flavonoids, aspalathin and nothofagin. Aspalathin is unique to rooibos while nothofagin may also be found in other plants. The aspalathin in rooibos have been shown to be more effective in getting rid of free radicals than the EGCG flavonoid found in green tea.

List of Benefits:

Decreases nervous tension
Helps to prevent allergies
Relief from digestive problems because of its antispasmodic properties
Effective treatment for infantile colic
Brings relief to asthma sufferers as it acts as a bronchodilator and antispasmodic agent
Can help with dermatological conditions. A Japanese study suggested that it is beneficial for the topical treatment of acne.
The tea has been proven to be beneficial to heart health
Great beverage for diabetics since it has been proven in one study to suppress the increase of fasting glucose levels as well as increasing glucose tolerance by stimulating the glucose uptake in the muscle tissues. It also stimulates the insulin secretion from the pancreas
It has been shown to aid regeneration of liver tissue and is therefore great for those suffering from liver disease

Other Health Facts Concerning Rooibos:

Rooibos tea has about 1/10th of the tannin content of other teas. Tannin affects your body’s metabolism by interfering with its ability to absorb iron and protein and can strip your body of about 1/3 of its iron levels.
Rooibos tea has no side-effects and can therefore be used in unlimited quantities
Since it contains no caffeine it can be enjoyed in the evening without concerns that it may interfere with your sleep
It contains no kilojoules (calories) which means its a great beverage for those who want to shed some weight
It contains minerals like iron, potassium, zinc, manganese and sodium
Pregnant moms can drink Rooibos tea without concerns that it may increase nausea and heartburn
Since it contains no oxalic acid, it can be safely enjoyed by people with kidney stones

Various Other Uses:

Rooibos tea is a favorite in a wide range of skin and beauty products because of its many therapeutic benefits for the skin. Traditionally Rooibos tea is enjoyed without milk and sweetened with honey or sugar. However, it does have a naturally sweet taste and a distinct nutty flavor. A “red espresso” is often enjoyed by the health conscious, which is a concentrated rooibos served in the ordinary style of espresso. A “green” rooibos tea is also available which has been shown to have more or less double the amount of anti-oxidants than the more popular red tea. It is also enjoyed as an iced tea, but a recent study conducted at the University of Stellenbosch have indicated that the brewed version of rooibos tea has more evidence of antioxidant activity than rooibos iced teas:

Not a single brand of commercially-available rooibos iced teas tested for phenolic quality (a large class of natural compounds found in colourful plants and with laboratory evidence of antioxidant activity – Wikepedia), compared favourably with a cup of brewed rooibos. Worse still, six of the eight brands tested showed not the slightest trace of aspalathin, the antioxidant unique to rooibos.